The Stewardship of Organization

Most people I have met are unorganized. I include myself in this category. The major reason for this is that Americans are over-consumers. We have too much stuff. The stuff starts to choke us- causing a lack of organization and peace.

Another reason I am unorganized is that it is a battle that has to be fought every day. In the past, I have chosen to take many days off in this fight and it has led to disorganization. In this sense, organization goes hand in hand with Christianity. True Christianity is a fight. We are told by the Apostle Paul, "Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called..." I Timothy 6:11. Every Christian is called to daily put on the armor of God- truth, righteousness, readiness, faith, salvation, study of the Word and prayer. We are called to put on this armor in order to fight the schemes of the devil and evil- Ephesians 6:10-20.

There are hundreds of reasons to not accumulate possessions. One of them is that it leads to a lack of organization. Solomon said, "God made men simple, but they have sought out their own complexities." Ecclesiastes 7:29. Isn't it amazing how something that was written thousands of years ago still speaks with pinpoint accuracy to our hearts today?

Why should I desire to get organized and stay organized? There are many important reasons: greater peace, frees up time for more important priorities, weans us from the weeds/thorns of this world and saves money. I am re-reading a book by Julie Morgenstern- Organizing from the Inside Out. She has a five-step plan for getting your home, office, files, closets, etc... organized:

1. Sort- Three important questions: Do I use this? Love this? Does it make or cost me money?
2. Purge- When in doubt, throw it out. There are plenty of charities that will gladly take your excess stuff and offer you a potential tax deduction. One man's junk is another's treasure.
3. Assign a Home- with the items you are keeping, put them in a clearly labeled, safe place where you can easily retrieve them.
4. Containerize- have a reasonable size container to hold your stored items. Once that container is full, you need to go back to step #2.
5. Equalize- this is where the daily fight comes in. Organization is a 24-hour, 7 days a week battle. But the rewards are worth the fight.

I have read- I am too unorganized currently to cite where- that a lack of organization has tremendous costs. If my memory serves me correctly, the cost of not having a budget for personal finances is that people without budgets spend 15-20% more than those who have a budget. The cost of a lack of organization in business is that employees spend on average an hour per day looking for papers, files and notes that are needed to properly do their job.

Realtors say that you will get 10% more for the same home that is clean and organized when you go to sell as you would for that same home that is disorganized. I have read that over 50% of the stuff in people's homes is not used once within a 12-month period. Affluenza by De Graaf, Wann and Naylor is a good read that covers a lot of these topics with well-researched facts.

I challenge myself and you to get and stay organized in 2006. Every discipline affects every other discipline in life. If you are organized, I believe you will see many unexpected improvements in other areas of your life. Organization is a move towards godliness. It allows us to work towards the most important calling of being frugal towards ourselves and more generous to others.

For the Glory of Christ,

Ashley Hodge